Meet Me in the Forest
September 3, 2026 – February 27, 2027
Opening Soon
Meet Me in the Forest invites you into the forests, gardens, and natural worlds artists create—places that hold mystery, mythology, and history. The exhibition foregrounds the complex and layered relationships between nature and humankind. Natural worlds are main characters in these stories, places where transcendent beauty, existential danger, and humanity converge and collide.
Meet Me in the Forest features twenty-two contemporary works of art across media, including paintings, textiles, mixed-media, glass, ceramics, photography, and installations. Drawing upon the CAT’s collection, new exciting acquisitions, and important regional and national loans, the exhibition includes work by leading artists Carrie Mae Weems, Ebony G. Patterson, and Ana Mendieta, alongside work by other nationally recognized artists and emerging new talent.
Meet Me in the Forest is organized by Jill Ahlberg Yohe, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Linnea Seidling, Assistant Curator of Glass. The exhibition was made possible by generous loans from Des Moines Art Center, Farnsworth Art Museum, Walker Art Center, Bockley Gallery, and Gladstone Gallery.
Artists Featured
Ebony G. Patterson
Erica Rosenfeld
Amanda Michelle Smith
Paul Stankard
Hannah Wade
Carrie Mae Weems
Nancy Wissemann-Widrig
Emma Wood
Hiroshi Yamano
Ruben Berland
Christina Bothwell
Kate Clements
Inka Essenhigh
Pao Houa Her
Mayme Kratz
Kelly Sinnapah Mary
Ana Mendieta
Lori Nix
Featured Artworks
Inka Essenhigh (born 1969). Forest with Dappled Light, 2022. Enamel on canvas. 40 x 50 inches. Collection of the Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine. Museum purchase, Lynne Drexler Acquisition Fund, 2022.30. © Inka Essenhigh / Image courtesy of the artist and Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY.
Kelly Sinnapah Mary (Guadeloupean, born 1981). She taught me to listen to the wind, 2023. Oil on canvas. 47 x 47 inches. Cafesjian Art Trust Museum, 2025.041.1. © Kelly Sinnapah Mary
Christina Bothwell (American, born 1960). Butterflies, 2012. Cast glass, paint. 10 x 12 × 26 inches. Cafesjian Art Trust Museum, 2022.0297.1. © Christina Bothwell
Ruben Berland (Cuban, born 1955). Mogote Bajo La Luz de la Luna llena, 1999. Acrylic on canvas. 58 x 68 ½ inches. Collection of Thomas Cafesjian and Kathie Cafesjian Baradaran, T.2007-40-5-23. © Ruben Berland
Educator Resources
Featured at top: Amanda Michelle Smith (American). Trauma, 2025. Glazed ceramic, oil paint. 16 × 21 1/16 × 1 1/4 inches. Cafesjian Art Trust Museum, 2025.044.1. © Amanda Michelle Smith